Saturday, December 31, 2011

I disagree with The Associated Press' selection of the killing of Osama bin Laden as the top news story of 2011.

It happened 10 years after 9/11 and bin Laden was no longer directing terrorist operations.

The bigger story was the devastating earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown that hit Japan.

A natural disaster that left 20,000 people dead and caused $200 billion in damage - not to mention the long-term threat from the radiation release - is much more significant.

I think liberal media bias played a role in the selection of the bin Laden story. The Obama-loving media wants to prop up their man as some sort of super-warrior who finally got the 9/11 mastermind. I don't think it was the top story of the year.

If you want more evidence of liberal bias, check out what the AP says about the U.S. economy, which has been on life-support since Obama took over: "By some measures, the U.S. economy gained strength as the year progressed."

Not sure what planet these AP voters are living on.

The only people doing well are Barack Obama and the Wall Street types who are bankrolling him.

It truly is the end of an era in Philadephia broadcasting. Unlike the Barbies that populate local TV news these days, Cathy Gandolfo was not hired for her looks. But she was a fixture on Channel 6 for the past 36 years. Tonight was her final broadcast.

Columnist John Hayward on Barack Obama's falling popularity with voters:

This is Romney’s biggest lead in a Rasmussen head-to-head matchup yet, and it’s mostly because Obama’s numbers have plunged. Romney actually has the same 45% support as the “generic Republican,” a joke that pretty much writes itself. Obama’s pulling 44% against the generic Republican but only 39% against Romney. This represents a fairly significant drop for the President over the last two weeks. He’s still 7 to 15 points ahead of the other Republican contenders.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

There's an old expression that goes something like this: "You can choose your friends but you can't choose your family." You can also decide to build a dream house, but you can't pick who your neighbors are going to be. In other words, just when you've settled on where you want to live, Jed Clampett and the Beverly Hillbillies could move in next door and there goes the neighborhood.

Gov. Tom Corbett left something under the tree of many Pennsylvania residents a few days before Christmas — something that many were not expecting or really needed.

In signing Senate Bill 1249 into law on Dec. 22, Corbett helped redraw Congressional boundaries for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania residents.

For the past 10 years, my congressman has been Republican Jim Gerlach, who has represented Pennsylvania's 6th District since it was created in 2000.

I've been happy with Gerlach and wasn't expecting to find myself in a new Congressional district, but you never know who's going to move in next door.

I've interviewed Gerlach several times over the past 10 years and he comes across as a very knowledgable and practical person. He is considered a moderate in Congressional circles, someone who doesn't always toe the party line. Gerlach has also built a reputation as a very responsive member of Congress who spends a lot of time in his home district. Whether it was a Veteran's Day parade or the dedication of a new bridge, Gerlach was there.

Perhaps it is his relative youth — 56 — or the fact that he would rather spend time with the people of Southeastern Pennsylvania instead of the political elites in Washington, D.C., but Gerlach has done a nice job of representing his constituents over the past decade, something even his political foes grudgingly admit.

I haven't paid too much attention to the redistricting process mandated by the Constitution every 10 years following the release of new Census figures because I wasn't expecting to lose Gerlach as my congressman.

I knew there would be some tinkering with his district because Republicans control both chambers in the state Legislature and they would work to make districts held by incumbent Republicans safer for their fellow GOP members. Because Pennsylvania's population growth is stagnant, the state was forced to drop one seat in the House, down from the 19 seats it held over the past decade. Politicians of both parties generally take care of themselves. They look for the easiest way to meet the requirements for cutting a seat. The best thing that could happen is for an incumbent to retire. That way, his or her district could be carved up among neighboring districts. Since that wasn't happening this year, the next target was the member of Congress with the least seniority. That meant Rep. Mark Critz had a big bull's-eye target on his back. Critz won a special election in 2010 to represent Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District after longtime Congressman John Murtha died in office earlier that year.

Critz will now have to run against another incumbent Democratic Congressman to keep his job.

You can complain all you want about the process of redistricting, but both parties play the same game. If Democrats controlled the state Legislature this year, you can bet they would combine two districts held by Republicans and force incumbents to run against each other.

I would prefer to keep Gerlach as my representative in Congress, but it wasn't my decision to part ways. I fell on the wrong side of the new political boundary of the 6th District. Overnight, I moved into a new Congressional district and didn't even get a chance to pack. It's not the first time it's happened. Before Gerlach, my congressman was Democrat Tim Holden and before that, it was Democrat Gus Yatron.

On Dec. 21, I lived in the 6th District. On Dec. 22, with Corbett's signature, I was moved into the 16th District, which brings me to Congressman Joe Pitts.

Pitts is 72 and has been in Congress since January 1997. He is considered one of the most conservative members in the House and has been recognized by conservative groups as one of the most reliable votes in Congress on fiscal and social issues. The Republican has earned 100% ratings from the American Conservative Union, the Christian Coalition and various taxpayer groups.

Pitts is also one of the few members of Congress who refuses to seek pork barrel funding for projects in his home district.

I've never met Pitts and he doesn't have Gerlach's track record of pressing the flesh in his home district, but his voting record in Congress is impressive. It's like a new neighbor moving in next door. It appears Pitts will be my Congressman until he retires from Congress, so I better get used to my new neighbor.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

While serious crime has decreased in recent years, there is one disturbing area where it has increased. Across the nation, 173 officers died in the line of duty this year, up 13 percent from 153 the year before, according to numbers compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Has this ever happened to you? I woke up one day last week and found myself in a new Congressional district. That's the result of Pennsylvania lawmakers redrawing the political boundaries in place for the past 10 years. I give up Rep. Jim Gerlach after a decade and now have to get used to Rep. Joe Pitts.

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was 30. Then for three years, He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth — His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

[Twenty] long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.

— This excerpt is from a sermon by Dr. James Allan Francis in "The Real Jesus and Other Sermons," a collection published in 1926 by the Judson Press of Philadelphia.

For Christmas this year, Gov. Tom Corbett hoped the legislature would gift wrap three things he could tie a bow on: An education reform package that included school vouchers, state liquor store privatization and legislation addressing gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

Unfortunately, the legislature played more Grinch than giver and the consequences of failure to act remain clear. Inaction on school choice traps students in violent and failing schools, where they see a violent act every 17 minutes. Pennsylvania loses jobs and tax revenue because residents spend hundreds of millions of dollars buying liquor in other states. And more jobs lie in the balance as natural gas companies are hedging their bets for future investment given the uncertainty of Pennsylvania's regulation and tax schemes.

Willing to pass the buck to Santa Claus, the General Assembly heads for home for the holiday break having delivered no gifts on any of these issues.

Both the Senate and House passed measures regulating gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale. But the House version involves an optional local fee, with funds limited to, for the most part, uncompensated impacts of drilling. The Senate passed a statewide tax they euphemistically call a fee that would fund a variety of programs unrelated to the impact of the natural gas extraction process. The final bill can be only one of these things. Likewise, the Senate passed a school voucher bill the governor supports, but it isn't yet clear if the House will rescue poor kids in violent, failing schools.

Meanwhile, bills addressing the fiscal crisis in the city of Harrisburg, flood damage across the state, and tightening child predator laws following the Penn State scandal all reached the Governor's desk. These unexpected priorities, brought about by crises and national media attention, took time away from other agenda items.

With the Census results in, lawmakers had to redraw both Congressional and state legislative districts this year, or early January at the latest. Both the redistricting commission and the legislative process for Congressional mapmaking are inherently political, and every lawmaker seeking reelection (or higher office) has something at stake. The political reality of the redistricting process ended up consuming all the oxygen in Harrisburg this fall and left other good policy opportunities gasping for air.

While 2011 has been declared the "Year of School Choice" with 18 states creating or expanding school choice programs, Pennsylvania lawmakers punted to next year. In the middle of the year, lawmakers claimed they had no time to pass school choice legislation with budget concerns, but would take it up in the fall. When nothing happened in the fall, it has become "wait until next year."

In contrast, most of the victories in other states occurred early in 2011. Why? Most states have limited legislative sessions, with deadlines for accomplishments. Pennsylvania's full-time legislature and unlimited sessions tend to lead to severe cases of procrastination.

Encouraging the lack of action on issues such as school choice is the political reality that Pennsylvania's two party debate is not between Democrats and Republicans. It is actually between the Union Party and the Taxpayer Party. Unfortunately for taxpayers, the Union Party enjoys a majority in both the House and Senate on key issues where union financial and political power is threatened.

These heavy hitters include the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the Service Employees International Union, and the American Federation of State, Council and Municipal Employees, which account for nearly 260,000 union members in the commonwealth. The PSEA alone—after raising mandatory dues on teachers and school employees by 11 percent in early 2011—spent $4.2 million lobbying over the past year.

The lesson is this: With the labor unions working as the taxpayers' Grinch, the legislature will fail to deliver not only this Christmas, but for many to come. If Gov. Corbett really wants to put taxpayers, students and workers first, he must use his bully pulpit to overcome a legislature that is reluctant to oppose the Union Party. Only then will his priorities become more than just a wish list.

For those who follow Christian traditions, Christmas begins when the darkness of Christmas Eve yields to bright midnight candles and the Mass of the Angels or the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The Christmas season then lasts 12 days, ending with Epiphany on Jan. 6.

But things aren’t that simple in modern America, the land of the free and the home of the malls. For millions of us, today’s Christmas begins when “Feliz Navidad” beer ads start interrupting National Football League broadcasts and holiday movies surge into cable-TV schedules previously crowded with Halloween zombie marathons.

Or perhaps the season begins with those Christmas church bazaars around Thanksgiving. Then again, many begin saluting friends with “Merry Christmas!” about the time public institutions start holding holiday parties and seasonal concerts — in the early days of December.

In other words, it’s getting harder and harder for Christians who try to practice their faith to answer what was once a simple question: When is Christmas?

“Unfortunately, most Americans — especially evangelical Protestants — have so distanced themselves from any awareness of the Christian calendar that their decisions about that kind of question have been handed over to the culture,” said the Rev. Russell D. Moore, dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

Many evangelicals fear the “cold formalism” that they associate with churches that follow the liturgical calendar and the end result, he said, is “no sense of what happens when in the Christian year, at all.” Thus, instead of celebrating ancient feasts such as Epiphany, Pentecost and the Transfiguration, far too many American church calendars are limited to Christmas and Easter, along with cultural festivities such as Mother’s Day, the Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and the Super Bowl.

In Baptist life, the faithful once knew that Christmas was near when their church choirs pulled out all the stops, hired some outside musicians and performed a semi-classical “Christmas cantata” or a few selections from G.F. Handel’s “Messiah.” As recently as the 1960s, these cantatas were usually staged the Sunday before Christmas. These days, the Christmas concerts are creeping forward in December church bulletins, closer and closer to Thanksgiving. Ditto for all of those special children’s programs and official church Christmas parties.

“I’ve been watching to see when pastors schedule their Christmas sermon series and when music directors start inserting Christmas songs into their services,” said Moore. “The question these days is whether Christmas will even last until Christmas. ...

“All of this is being driven by travel, family events and what’s happening all around us. Right now, our churches are running about two weeks behind the culture.”

If that’s the case, then church leaders who truly want to get in sync need to pay closer attention to our culture’s highest Christmas authority — the National Retail Federation. Its press release projecting holiday sales numbers is “the official starter’s gun” that unleashes the madness, said Washington Post reporter Hank Stuever, author of “Tinsel: A Search for America’s Christmas Present.” This year, that statement was released on Oct. 6 and the official verdict was “average,” or about $465.6 billion in sales.

Stuever said that from his outsider’s perspective as a lapsed Catholic, it’s obvious that many clergy are “still paying a lot of lip service” to Jesus being the “reason for the season and all that. I understand what they’re saying, but surely they can see all of the materialism that’s on display out in their parking lots and in their pews. ... Once Christmas gets rolling, everyone just goes bonkers and it’s hard to claim otherwise.”

This year, he added, it will be especially interesting to see how many leaders in “all of those big-box churches” cancel their Sunday morning services instead of daring to clash with family Christmas tree rites in American homes.

Moore stressed that he will be in his Highview Baptist pulpit on Christmas morning and, here’s the key, his children know why.

“To even think that we have come to the point where we do not worship on the Lord’s Day because it is Christmas is, to me, absolutely absurd,” he said. “Where’s the logic in that? What are people thinking?”

Terry Mattingly is the director of the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and leads the GetReligion.org project to study religion and the news.

Liberals still think Pennsylvania residents don't pay enough taxes, but the state's fiscal woes can be traced to the massive growth in state spending under Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, who left a $4.2 billion deficit for Republican Gov. Tom Corbett to deal with.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

A scathing editorial in Investor's Business Daily about Attorney General Eric Holder playing the race card:

The attorney general says he and the president get criticized because they're African-American. He once said we need an honest discussion about race. OK, let's talk about him hiding behind his.

Times have changed since the evening of April 7, 1775, when Samuel Johnson said that patriotism was the last refuge of a scoundrel.

In the supposed post-racial era ushered in with the election of President Obama and the appointment of Attorney General Eric Holder, racism has replaced it as the ultimate defense against charges of incompetence and misguided policies.

In an interview with the New York Times published over the weekend, Holder accused those who want to know who authorized the Fast and Furious gun-running operation of being racially motivated.

The 60 congressmen, two senators, two sitting governors, and all the major presidential candidates who have openly called for Holder's resignation are not concerned in his view about how two U.S. agents and hundreds of Mexicans got killed with U.S. guns.

No, according to Holder, they are motivated by the color of Holder's and President Obama's skin.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Politifact, the non-partisan fact-checking organization, has selected the Democratic Party's scare tactics over Medicare as the biggest political lie of 2011. You would think that people would wise up by now since Democrats have used the same lie in the past.

Given a choice between Newt Gingrich or Barack Obama, Thomas Sowell says it's a no-brainer.

From his latest column:

Can you name one important positive thing that Romney accomplished as governor of Massachusetts? Can anyone? Does a candidate who represents the bland leading the bland increase the chances of victory in November 2012? A lot of candidates like that have lost, from Thomas E. Dewey to John McCain. Those who want to concentrate on the baggage in Gingrich's past, rather than on the nation's future, should remember what Winston Churchill said: "If the past sits in judgment on the present, the future will be lost."If that means a second term for Barack Obama, then it means lost big time.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

George F. Will on how Obamacare is one of many job-killing initiatives imposed on U.S. employers by Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats:

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, by 2008 the cost of federal regulations had reached $1.75 trillion. That was 14 percent of national income unavailable for job-creating investments. And that was more than 11,000 regulations ago.

Footlights Jr., the Antietam Middle School Drama Club, presents its inaugural production of "JAMZ' Christmas Carol" on Friday, Dec. 16, and Saturday, Dec. 17."JAMZ' Christmas Carol" is a modern-day retelling of the Charles Dickens' classic that follows a pompous rapper down his path of redemption.Both performances begin at 7 p.m. in the Mount Penn Primary Center Auditorium, North 25th Street, Mount Penn.Tickets are just $5 per person and will be available at the door. Gather the whole family for a fun-filled holiday musical.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Columnist Brad Bumsted of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has some advice for Penn State officials:

For once, get ahead of the story and do something right. Even though the university has had special protection from the Legislature and is not subject to the Open Records Law, like the governor, the Department of Education, state-owned universities and the State System of Higher Education, it can release whatever information it wants.

Penn State receives $227.6 million in public subsidies. That's billions of dollars over the years, counting annual appropriations and capital projects money.

In the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse allegations, numerous news organizations have requested records and contracts showing how much Penn State has spent on legal and public relations consultants.

Read his full column, "Let the sunshine in, PSU" at the newspaper's website.

David Legates, professor of climatology at the University of Delaware and associate Delaware state climatologist, told a gathering in Chester County that there is no consensus of human causes behind climate issues and some of the data has been manipulated by proponents of global warming.

"Is our climate changing? Are we to blame? It's changing because it always has changed and should be changing," Legates said.

What if the federal government declared that the Fourth of July was no longer a holiday? We would be told to report for work, cancel fireworks displays and picnics and go about our business the same as any other day.

Imagine the outrage. Americans would be angered by the suggestion that we shouldn't celebrate freedom. Not recognize Independence Day? Why, that would be un-American.

And yet we do the same thing every December 15th, the birthday of our Bill of Rights. In guaranteeing these fundamental freedoms in 1791, we set ourselves apart from all other nations on the planet — then and ever since. It is one of the most important days in American history and yet almost no one takes the time to reflect on the importance of Dec. 15 and the anniversary of our freedoms.

What does it say about America that we zealously celebrate our government's Declaration of Independence from another government and totally overlook the American people's Declaration of Independence from its government?

In mid-December, Americans will shop for the holidays, finish final exams and make plans for New Year's Eve. No one will wish you a happy Bill of Rights day. There's not even a Wikipedia page on Bill of Rights Day.

It's not as though no one ever attempted to give this day the respect it deserves. On Aug. 21, 1941, a joint resolution of Congress called on President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to designate a day in honor of the Bill of Rights.

On Nov. 28, 1941, the Los Angeles Times reported that "President Roosevelt today called on the American people to observe Dec. 15 as 'Bill of Rights Day,' to cherish the 'immeasurable privileges which the charter guaranteed' and to rededicate its principles and practice." FDR called on government officials to fly the flag and for all Americans to "observe the day with appropriate ceremonies and prayer," noting that Adolf Hitler's greatest fear was our freedom of speech, press and religion.

An appropriate kick-off celebration was planned at the Waldorf Astoria featuring actress Helen Hayes and Eleanor Roosevelt. Nine days after FDR's proclamation, though, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and everything else took a back seat to World War II. This was the holiday that got away and it's never been properly recognized since.

Last year, a group of educators, journalists, artists and others banded together to help build a greater understanding of the First Amendment with a non-partisan and educational campaign called 1 for All. Obviously, the First Amendment leads off the Bill of Rights, and we thought there might be a way to rekindle FDR's dream of a national celebration, particularly this year, on the 220th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights.

What would it take? How could you get the attention of the American people and encourage them to re-engage with this long lost holiday? Our colleagues at the American Society of News Editors thought we might come full circle in Washington, DC, turning to the nation's leadership to complete the work that Congress and FDR advocated.

ASNE reached out to The House of Representatives and asked for a resolution urging all Americans to honor this important day. They were quickly rebuffed, with an explanation that this Congress was too busy to do 'commemorative' bills. Weeks later, the House passed a resolution re-affirming "In God We Trust" as our national motto.

So much for the First Amendment right of petition. If America's going to give the Bill of Rights the credit it deserves, it's clearly up to We the People.

It would be nice if all of us could take a little time at dinner on December 15 to ask our kids what they know about the Bill of Rights, and help them understand why it's such a significant day. Beyond the teaching opportunity, there's also a little something in it for young Americans age 14-22.

The Knight Foundation is funding a scholarship opportunity called "Free to Tweet." Students who wish the First Amendment a happy birthday by tweeting about the importance of these fundamental freedoms on Dec. 15 are eligible to compete for one of 22 (one for every decade since ratification) scholarships. They just have to use the hash tag #freetotweet.

All Americans are urged to join us online (www.freetotweet.org) and help generate the kind of attention and energy that this date so richly deserves.

The irony is that most of us honor the Fourth of July because we believe it's a day on which Americans secured their freedom. But the truth is that the Declaration of Independence really only secured freedom for white and wealthy men. It took freedom of speech, press, religion, petition and assembly — the five freedoms of the First Amendment — to lead to suffrage for women, the emancipation of slaves and equality for all.

Please join in celebrating freedom this Dec. 15. It's long overdue.

Ken Paulson is president of the First Amendment Center and the American Society of News Editors, and a founder of 1 for All.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Our permanent political class relies on an apathetic and uninformed public to get away with this stuff. But if there is one issue that unites Americans across the political spectrum, it's absolute disgust with the corruption of our elected leaders. Congress and the White House need to earn the American people's trust again. We the people are not going to give up until we get the sudden and relentless reform we deserve or, as the book says, "we throw them all out" in 2012.

Pioneering TV newscaster Chet Huntley didn't live long enough to see the rise of Barack Obama:

"Journalists were never intended to be the cheerleaders of a society, the conductors of applause, the sycophants. Tragically, that is their assigned role in authoritarian societies, but not here — not yet."

Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican who represents Colorado's 6th Congressional District, wants the permanent political class in Washington to feel some of the pain of their constituents, who are footing the bills.

Coffman has been serving on Congress since 2009 and obviously hasn't been brainwashed by the political lifers who run Washington.

All donations to The Mercury's Operation Holiday program go directly to needy families. There's no overhead because Mercury employees volunteer their time to administer the program. Last year, the newspaper raised $50,000 and helped more than 250 families. With Christmas just a couple of weeks away, the program has raised just under $20,000 but the need is even greater this year. Follow the link below to read how you can help.

Friday, December 09, 2011

From an excellent op-ed published in the West Chester Daily Local News on the misleading unemployment numbers released by the Obama Administration:

The technical reason the number of unemployed declined is that more than 350,000 people stopped looking for work last week and are no longer being carried on the books. In fact, if the total number of people who have stopped looking for work over the past few years were being counted (either because they are being sustained by endless unemployment insurance benefits or are simply discouraged because the economy IS moribund), the more accurate unemployment figure is closer to 17 percent ... (Table U-6 — Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, from Bureau of Labor Statistics).

The jobless rate has now remained above 8 percent since February 2009, the longest stretch since monthly records began in 1948. Additionally, there are still 5.7 million long-term unemployed (jobless for 27 weeks and over), which represents 43 percent of the total unemployed and the average duration of unemployment rose to 40.9 weeks, the highest on record.

On Dec. 9, 1854, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade" was first published in England. The poem comemmorates the Battle of Balaclava on Oct. 25, 1854, during the Crimean War. British light cavalry charged over open terrain against heavily-fortified Russian forces, leading to one of the worst battlefield massacres in history.

The Charge Of The Light Brigade

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Half a league half a league,Half a league onward,All in the valley of DeathRode the six hundred:'Forward, the Light Brigade!Charge for the guns' he said:Into the valley of DeathRode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'Was there a man dismay'd ?Not tho' the soldier knewSome one had blunder'd:Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why,Theirs but to do & die,Into the valley of DeathRode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon in front of themVolley'd & thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,Boldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of HellRode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,Flash'd as they turn'd in airSabring the gunners there,Charging an army whileAll the world wonder'd:Plunged in the battery-smokeRight thro' the line they broke;Cossack & RussianReel'd from the sabre-stroke,Shatter'd & sunder'd.Then they rode back, but notNot the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon behind themVolley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,While horse & hero fell,They that had fought so wellCame thro' the jaws of Death,Back from the mouth of Hell,All that was left of them,Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?O the wild charge they made!All the world wonder'd.Honour the charge they made!Honour the Light Brigade,Noble six hundred!

Thursday, December 08, 2011

A senior GOP lawmaker said Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder could be impeached over botched gun-tracking operation Fast and Furious.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) suggested at a House Judiciary Committee hearing that Congress may impeach Holder if it does not get satisfactory answers about inaccurate statements and information the Department of Justice provided on the operation.

The arrest this week of Montgomery County Commissioner James Matthews, brother of MSNBC talking head Chris Matthews, for lying to a grand jury about government corruption is the culmination of four disastrous years under the leadership of Matthews and sidekick Joe Hoeffel.

Give the First Amendment – and the nation – a unique gift this holiday season: On Dec. 15, "tweet" your support for this 220-year old guarantor of our basic freedoms.

And don't stop there … round out the holidays by making that 140-character pledge the first step in a New Year's commitment to better understand and defend year-round those precious 45 words that define our core freedoms: religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.

What's the reason to make the First Amendment part of the season?

For one thing, Dec. 15 is the 220th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, beginning with the First Amendment's protection of freedom of expression and freedom of religion. That's an event deserving in its own right of glitter and tinsel.

More urgently, it's a chance to challenge and maybe change a sad result of national surveys the First Amendment Center has conducted since 1997. In all that time, never more than six percent in any year could name all five freedoms unaided.

We live in times in which the First Amendment never has been more on display – or more contested.

There are the yearly Yule concerns over religious-themed songs and carols at public school holiday pageants, but also the miraculous example to the world of multiple faiths in one nation peaceably observing holy days and holidays alongside one another.

There are Occupy Wall Street demonstrators exercising their rights to speak freely, to assemble and to petition the government for change – in the manner of generations of Americans who have taken to the streets to make their voices heard.

The U.S. Supreme Court soon will decide a dispute over what we can see and hear on broadcast TV. Meanwhile, we’re all "a-Twitter" over how private are our personal facts and messages. And the fight goes on over how public are our public records.

The Internet, e-mail, Facebook and Twitter have brought new concerns about smut, identity theft and hate speech, all while also giving us an unparalleled opportunity to talk with our fellow citizens – provided that government does not get in the way.

Has there ever been a time when all five of our First Amendment freedoms were more in play?

The "Free to Tweet" initiative is an unprecedented, day-long online call to the American public to stand up on Dec. 15 for these fundamental freedoms. High school and college students nationwide, ages 14 to 22, get a bonus for participating: Expressing themselves freely with the hash tag #freetotweet on Twitter will mean an opportunity to win one of 22 scholarships each worth $5,000. (Find more details on the initiative and the competition at www.freetotweet.org).

For more than two centuries, the First Amendment has been protecting our right to speak out. Let's do just that on Dec. 15!

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

A federal judge has ruled that bloggers are not afforded the same protections from defamation and libel lawsuits as professional journalists.

The ruling could have a chilling effect on so-called "citizen journalists" who have launched hundreds of millions of blogs.

The case involved Crystal L. Cox, a Montana blogger who made critical remarks about a local attorney. Hint to bloggers: Accusing a lawyer in public of criminal conduct may not be the smartest thing to do.

From The Associated Press:

U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez found last week that as a blogger, Cox was not a journalist and cannot claim the protections afforded to mainstream reporters and news outlets.

Although media experts said Wednesday that the ruling would have little effect on the definition of journalism, it casts a shadow on those who work in nontraditional media since it highlights the lack of case law that could protect them and the fact that current state shield laws for journalists are not covering recent developments in online media.

"My advice to bloggers operating in the state of Oregon is lobby to get your shield law improved so bloggers are covered," said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "But do not expect the shield law to provide you a defense in a libel case where you want to rely on an anonymous source for that information."

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Why Politics Matter

“Politics, the crooked timber of our communal lives, dominates everything because, in the end, everything – high and low and, most especially, high – lives or dies by politics. You can have the most advanced and efflorescent of cultures. Get your politics wrong, however, and everything stands to be swept away. This is not ancient history. This is Germany 1933.” –– Charles Krauthammer

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About Me

Tony A. Phyrillas is a leading conservative columnist, commentator and blogger based in Pennsylvania.
A veteran newspaperman with 33 years experience as a reporter, editor, photographer and columnist, Phyrillas received a first place award in 2010 for best column from the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors and a first place award in 2007 for Best Opinion Column from Suburban Newspapers of America. He was recognized for column writing in 2007 by the Society of Professional Journalists, Keystone Chapter and in 2006 by the SPJ Greater Philadelphia Chapter.
Phyrillas is ranked among the most influential political bloggers in Pennsylvania by BlogNetNews.com.
Odyssey: The World of Greece magazine named Phyrillas one of the leading Greek-American bloggers in the world.
A Penn State University graduate, Phyrillas is the editor/content manager of The Mercury, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning daily newspaper in Pottstown, Pa.
Phyrillas made frequent appearances on talk radio and as a panelist on the "Journalists Roundtable" program on the Pennsylvania Cable Network.
He co-hosted a weekly radio program on WPAZ 1370 AM for 2 years.